42: The secret of martial arts! Breaking through nine levels!

"The year 5896 of the martial god calendar, nearly five hundred years ago. Yet this essay is still in the Fourth Grade Martial Art essay area; it seems this Senior Sun ultimately failed to Breakthrough."

Seeing the signature in the autobiographical section of this essay, Lin Yi couldn't help but sigh softly.

Frankly, in Lin Yi's eyes, this Senior named Sun Lushan was absolutely a Genius among Geniuses!

Breaking through to the Martial Dao Sixth Rank and comprehending Extreme Strength at the age of thirteen, such performance could rank in the top twenty even in the Dongshan Martial Academy. If placed in Guangling Prefecture, he could even leave a name in history.

But even such a figure was unable to Breakthrough to the Third Rank until death, nor did he comprehend the 'Limit Breaking' he spoke of.

What exactly is this Limit Breaking? Why is it so difficult? And what does it have to do with breaking through to the Martial Dao Third Rank?

At this thought, Lin Yi's mind was filled with doubts, and he immediately asked the Dean, Zhao Haihong, these questions.

"Oh, Limit Breaking? You saw the Realm of Limit Breaking in this essay?"

Hearing these two words, Zhao Haihong was slightly stunned, but he didn't answer Lin Yi's question immediately, instead asking in return.

"Correct!"

Lin Yi replied:

"This essay was written nearly five hundred years ago by a Senior named Sun Lushan. In his autobiographical account, he clearly stated that he was then on the path to charging toward Limit Breaking."

"However, looking at the follow-up of this essay, this Senior Sun Lushan should have ultimately failed."

"Yes, Limit Breaking is indeed very difficult."

Hearing this, Zhao Haihong also nodded in agreement, sighing slightly:

"Even I only managed to luckily succeed in Limit Breaking just before the sixty-year-old limit. As for many Fourth Grade Martial Artists of my generation, the vast majority failed. It's quite normal for this Senior Sun to have failed his attempt."

"However, since he could set foot on the path to charging toward the Limit Breaking Realm, it means his strength was among the top even among Fourth Grade Martial Artists."

"Yes, this Senior Sun was indeed very strong."

Lin Yi agreed:

"His Martial Dao cultivation, martial arts techniques, and force exertion Realm were all at the Peak among Fourth Grade Martial Artists. Even in Dongshan Prefecture, it's estimated that not many Fourth Grade Martial Artists could compare to him."

"But, Dean, after saying all this, you haven't told me what Limit Breaking actually is?"

"Haha, little fellow, don't be impatient. I'll tell you right now."

Seeing Lin Yi's curious look, Zhao Haihong chuckled and then spoke:

"Limit Breaking, also known as 'Breaking the Limit,' is a Physical Body force exertion Realm just like Extreme Strength, but its level is one step higher than Extreme Strength."

"You have now mastered Extreme Strength Minor Achievement, so you know that Extreme Strength is about controlling the Physical Body and mobilizing all the Physical Body's power to reach the limit, thereby unleashing doubled combat power, right?"

"And Limit Breaking is, under the condition that the Physical Body is already perfectly controlled, going deeper to control even smaller muscles and bones. Thus, it breaks through again on the basis of the Physical Body limit of Extreme Strength Perfection, making the Physical Body's power surpass the limit! It surges again!"

"In the Nine Provinces Martial Dao, Limit Breaking has a total of nine levels. Among them, Level One Limit Breaking can increase the Physical Body's power by another fold on the basis of Extreme Strength Perfection."

"And Level Two Limit Breaking can increase it by two times on the basis of Extreme Strength Perfection."

"Level Three Limit Breaking, three times!"

"Level Four Limit Breaking, four times!"

"...and so on, until reaching Level Nine Limit Breaking. Then, compared to an Extreme Strength Martial Artist who hasn't comprehended Limit Breaking, even if both have the same cultivation, the former's Physical Body power is nine times that of the latter!"

"If compared to a Martial Artist who hasn't even comprehended Extreme Strength, this gap would expand to a terrifying eighteen times."

"And a terrifying gap of eighteen times allows even the most ordinary Ninth Rank Martial Artist, relying on this fearsome force exertion Realm, to easily slay a Sixth-Rank Martial Artist. This is the terror of Limit Breaking!"

"The Limit Breaking Realm... so that's how it is?"

Hearing Zhao Haihong's introduction, Lin Yi was also shocked:

"To actually be able to break through the limit on the basis of Extreme Strength Perfection and double the Physical Body's power again... this Limit Breaking Realm is truly terrifying. No wonder it's so hard to achieve."

"But Dean, what is the relationship between comprehending the Limit Breaking Realm and breaking through to the Martial Dao Third Rank?"

"Haha, this question is also very simple."

Hearing this, Zhao Haihong smiled faintly:

"Lin Yi, you've taken the Martial Dao Foundation Class at the Guangling Martial Academy, so you should know that although the human body has infinite mysteries, it actually has a Physical Body limit."

"For instance, an ordinary person, if they don't Cultivate through a Breathing Technique but only rely on some movements they've figured out themselves or exercise with the help of other equipment..."

"No matter how gifted or how hard they train, their ultimate limit is only possessing a thousand catties of strength in their arms, which is not even as good as the most ordinary Eighth-Rank Martial Artist."

"Once Martial Artists Cultivate through Breathing Techniques, their limits will increase significantly, more than ten or twenty times higher than that of ordinary people."

"But no matter how high it is, there is eventually a limit, and this limit is at the Fourth Grade Martial Artist Peak level."

"Once a Martial Artist reaches the Fourth Grade Martial Artist Peak, if they want to continue breaking through to the Martial Dao Third Rank, they must comprehend Limit Breaking and then use the profound Realm of Limit Breaking to shatter the shackles of the Physical Body limit."

"Moreover, it must be broken before the age of sixty to Breakthrough again!"

"Otherwise, once the Qi and blood decline after sixty, even if they comprehend Limit Breaking, they won't be able to Breakthrough to the Martial Dao Third Rank due to insufficient Physical Body Qi and blood."

"That's why the Martial Dao Third Rank is so difficult; it has stumped the vast majority of Fourth Grade Martial Artists in this world, including this Senior Sun in your essay."

Speaking of this, a look of sighing couldn't help but appear on Zhao Haihong's face.

"So that's how it is."

Seeing this, Lin Yi also nodded gently.

"The path of Martial Dao is truly a new heaven with every step! As difficult as climbing to the blue sky!"

He had once foolishly thought that after Awakening the Martial Dao Sacred Body, he could rely on the power of the Sacred Body to be guaranteed a path to the Second Rank, First Rank, or even beyond the First Rank.

But now it seemed he was merely looking at the sky from the bottom of a well.

"After all, setting aside the requirements for the Second Rank, First Rank, or beyond, just to Breakthrough to the Martial Dao Third Rank, one must comprehend the Limit Breaking Realm."

"Without sufficient Comprehension Ability, a Martial Artist cannot comprehend Limit Breaking. At that time, no matter how strong Lin Yi's Physical Body Aptitude was, he wouldn't be able to Breakthrough to the Martial Dao Third Rank at all, let alone Realms above the Third Rank."

"Fortunately, besides the Martial Dao Sacred Body, I also have the two Bright Yellow Grade Talents: Blade Dao Prodigy and Flesh Body Control."

"These two Bright Yellow Grade Talents are both at the one-in-ten-million level. Combined with the Comprehension Ability boosts from the Martial Dao Sacred Body and Saber Dao Genius talents..."

"With my current talent, breaking through to the Third Rank should still be quite easy, and the Second Rank shouldn't be difficult either. As for the First Rank or beyond, I don't know yet."

Lin Yi thought to himself.

His current talent was very high. Even excluding his Physical Body Aptitude, in terms of Comprehension Ability alone, he was at the one-in-tens-of-millions level.

If it came to comprehending things related to the Physical Body Realm like Extreme Strength and Limit Breaking, his talent was even at the one-in-hundreds-of-millions level!

If he couldn't Breakthrough to the Second Rank with such talent, then the Martial Dao Second Rank would be too difficult.

As for the First Rank, even if he couldn't Breakthrough with his current talent, didn't he still have the attribute panel and could continue Talent Evolution?

In short, as long as the attribute panel was there, no matter how difficult the path of Martial Dao was, he would have nothing to fear!

With his mind set, Lin Yi no longer distracted himself with other things. He lowered his head and silently began to flip through the essay left by Sun Lushan.